Improvement in apparatus for cleaning and preparing rags for manufacture of paper



Unirse STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIM EDNVARD N EVTON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.-

IMPROVEMENT'IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING RAGS FOR MANUFACTURE OF PAPER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 102,854, dated May l0, 1870.

. To all whom, it riz/wy concern.-

Be itknown that I, VILLIAM: EDWARD NEW- TON, of London, England, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Cleansing and Preparing Rags for the llIanuiactu re of Paper, and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention has for its objectto cleanse rags from the dirt and impurities which naturally adhere to them, before being operated upon and prepared for conversion into pulp for the manufacture of paper.

The process I propose to employ in order to effect the objects of the present invention is a combined washing or cleansing and boiling process, and this combined process is effected in an apparatus which will admit of the opera tions being carried on with great facility, and with much greater speed than the operation forwashing rags as heretofore conducted. The rags generally have adhering to them a good deal of dirt, which can be easily removed, andl this I do by washing them in plain hot water in the apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings, and hereinafter described, before I submit them to the action of any chemical solutions, for the purpose of more thoroughly off in the form of mud without wasting the chemical solutions used in the subsequent processes.

Figure I, Sheet I, is a sectional plan View, and Fig. 2,- Sheet II, a vertical section, of the apparatus, whichconsists of a cylindrical framework or cage, a a, covered externally with perforated metal or wire-gauze, and provided in-l ternally with any convenient number of vertical ribs, a, which project radially from the circumference toward the center. This perforated metal cage forests upon cross-bars I) b, or upon a ledge iixed inside the external easing, c c, leaving an annular space between the external easing and the outside of the cage a. Inside this cage a is mounted a frame,which is iixed on the vertical spindle e, and consists of a series of beaters or stirrers, d d', of peculiar shape. The lower part of the spindle c is made square at e, and fits into a square socket in the end of the short shaft f, which passes through a stuffing-box, g, at the bottom of the casing c, and is supported in a step, h, below. On this shaft j' is keyed a bevel-pinion, ,which gears into and is driven by a similar wheel, j, on the end of the driving-shaftywhich is actuated by aband passing from any prime mover to the pulleys on theend of the shaft j. It will be seen that the beaters d d' extend from the upper part of the spindle e down the bottom of the cage a a, or nearly so, and that they are much wider at bottom than at the top. The effect of this peculiar shape will be that when they are in operation a greater amount of motion will be given to the lower part of the water than to the upper portion, so that when the beaters are rotated a kind of whirlpool action of the water will take place, and a vertical or tumbbling circulation of the water and rags in contradistinetien to a horizontal circular motion will be produced, and the'dirt and impurities will be removed from the rags with greater facility than heretofore, and, after passing through the perforated sides of the cage a into the annular space between it'and the external casing, will be deposited in the form of mud at the bottom of the vessel c, and may be drawn off through the pipe cl before the chemical salutions are added for the. subsequent processes.

If desired, the water in the apparatusmay be heated by jets of steam, which may be injected from nozzles into the annular space outside the cage a, or into any other convenient part of the apparatus.

It will be seen that at the bottom of the eX- ternal wooden vessel, c, is made a space to receive the mud and sediment from the dirty rags. This may be covered over with a false bottom, le, as shown in the drawings, and this false bottom may be perforated or not, as may be preferred.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The rags are chargedv into the perforated cagea through the top,which, if desired, may be inclosed or covered in by doors, as shown at Z Z. Vater is then admitted, and, if cold, it may be heated by injecting steam into it, as already mentioned. The shaft e with the beaters d may then be rotated, and, by knocking the rags about in the water, will quickly detach therefrom the greater part of the dirt, which Will pass through the perforated sides of the cage a into'the annular spacebeyond, and Will gradually subside in the outside Water, and

descend into the mud space below the false bottom k, from Whence it may be draWn off from time to time through the pipe c. A solution of soda or other equivalent chemical substance may then be run into the apparatus, and the Whole of the liquid with the rags in it may be boiled by means of the steam for any desired time, or until the rags are quite clean. They may then be bleached and reduced into pulp7 and be converted into paper in the ordinary mannen I have not shown the steanrpipes 'for heating the Water, as -it Will be i'ound that by simply causing steam to bubble up in the Water from nozzles,in the manner already explained, the Wate1-will be suiiiciently heated.

It Will be seen that as all the driving gear is placed below7 the cage a and the parts contained therein, together With the central shalt, e, may be lifted out of the outer Vessel c, for the convenience of emptying the rags out of the cage, which may then be replaced in its original position.

In practice I nd it convenient to use three of the above-described apparatus in combination, so arranged in reference to each other that the cage awith its contents inay'be lifted 'out ot' one apparatus and placed in the next.

The first apparatus may then be used for the preliminary Washing out of the loose dirt, the second for boiling the rags in any chemical solution, and the third for boiling or bleaching operation, or for simply Washing in cold Water.

Having 'now described my invention, and havingvexplained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the invention- 1. The combination of the central shaft, e, provided With the beaters d d', substantially as shoWn,With the inner cage, a, the Whole being so arranged and constructed as' to admit of being lifted out of the outer casing, c, as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The rotating beaters d', shaped so as to impart to the rags a tumbling or vertical motion, as set iortli, in eontradistinetion to asimple horizontal circulation, for the purpose specified.'

In Witness whereof I, the said \VILLIAM.

EDWARD NEWTON, have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of February, 1870. i

W. NEWTON.`

XVitnesses:

DANL. Fonsiniw, J. L. FoRsHAW, Boil, of 24 Rog/al Erczmzr/c, London. 

